Paul hermann hartling



(No Model.)

H. HARTLING.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

No. 340,876. Patented Ap 2], 1886.

N. PETE. Photo-MW, wmm m. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL HERMANN HQLRTLING, on BERLIN, GERMANY.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

ESPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,876, dated April 27, 1886.

Serial No. 151,674. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PAUL HEEMANN HART- LING, of the city of Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire, (a subject of the King of Prussia,) have invented new and useful Improvements in Self- Acting Mechanisms for Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

1n mechanical pianos as hitherto constructed an action is employed in which the automatic action of the hammers is effected by air-pressure, either by opening and closing bellows or by upand-down motion of pistons working in metal cylinders. In this construction the pinbarrel only actuates the air-valves for each separate hammer. Practice has demonstrated the inconveniences of this system, and these are chiefly that the wind chest and tubes readily became leaky, and also that the action, if the instrument is placed in a damp place, readily fails to act in consequence of the swelling of the wood.

The mechanism herein described acts with out airpressure simply by a combination of levers, which so act on the hammer-action that the short movement of the keys operated by the pin-barrel will be suflicient eifectively to impel the hammers against the strings. The construction is moreover such that the manual key-board, to be played by hand, is perfectly independent from the automatic mechanism operated by turning a crank.

The drawing illustrates,partly in section and partly in elevation, the employment of the lever mechanism, the dotted lines showing the position at the moment at which the hammer strikes, the full lines showing the position of rest.

A is an ordinary manual key moving on the pin a, which is fixed in the board or plank B. The rear part of the manual key A carries alever, 0, attached to the rear part of said key by means of the hinge e. The lever G is prolonged a little beyond the key, and is guided by a pin, d. The pin d and a regulator-stud,

e, are placed on the rear end of the key A, and when the key is depressed the block f,and consequently the lifter D, are operated and the hammer-action rendered operative,as thelever C rests on the regulator stud or screw and is compelled to participate in the movement of the key. A rail, E, limits the rise of the end of the key A or of the lever O.

The action for the pin-barrel is underneath the manual key-board, and the hinges, on which work the levers for transmitting motion to the hammers, are fixed on the under side of the board or plank F, which forms the bottom of the manual key-board. Below the said board or plank F, by which, as stated, the greater portion of the second action for operating the hammers by the pinbarrel is supported, a second board or frame, H, is placed, on which are mounted the other parts of the lever arrangement and the keys J, which are raised and lowered by the action of the pins on the barrel V. The keys J in this second keyboard form levers, and their forward end is fitted, as is usual in barrel-organs, with a striking-pin, g, upon which the pins on the barrel act as levers. These keys are fulcrumed at h, and in their position of rest hear at their rear ends against the adjustable regulator screws or studs 1', as will be seen in the drawing. Springs 7., hearing by one end against these keys, by the other against the plank or board H, to which the same are secured, have for their object to balance the weight of the lever arrangement, yet to be described, so that the hammers may strike with precision.

\Vhen one of the last-named keys J is raised by one of the pins on the barrel \V, the continuation or rear end, m, of the key presses upon a small double lever, L, suitably pivoted at 'n, and the double lever raises a one-armed lever, P, fulcrumed at its end in 0. On the one-armed lever P ajack or short liftiiigrod, p, is adjustably iixed. \Vhen said lever is raised, this jack raises a one-armed lever, Q, placed on the upper side of the second keyboard, the last-named lever Q having its fulcrum at its rear end in q, while its front end raises another lever, It, also 'l'ulcrumed at its end 1', (suspended from the plank whereon the manual key-board rests.) This lever R transmits its motion directly to a two-armed lever, S, suspended on the key-board plank, having at its end a small stud or head, 1, adjustable by means of a screw, 1, and bearing upon a two-armed lever, T.

The two-armed lever T last referred to is likewise pivotally suspended from the flank on which the upper key-board rests, and one arm thereof is made in two parts, so that the effect of this action may, as far as possible, resemble the elastic touch on the manual keyboard. To eflect this a loose part, V, of the two-armed lever T just referred to is attached to the arm of the latter by two stout strips of leather, w w, onlyv so that if the lever is thrown up too forcibly a slight amount of,

short stroke or movement of the key J in the second key-board is so altered that a strong but nevertheless elastic impact of the hammer is eflected in such a manner that the jack Y (connected with the second keyboard) lifts the lever C, which actuates the hammers (but without affecting the manual keys) by raising manner.

the lifter D, the latter acting in the usual The rotation of the pin-barrel W is eifected, in the usual way,by a worm or endless screw, a, on a spindle, b, rotated by a hand wheel or crank.

The action of the hammers is that usually employed, and therefore calls for no further description.

1. In combination, the key J, levers L, P, Q, R, S, and T, and the adjustable jack p, as set forth.

' 2. In combination with the pin-barrel and key J, the manual key, the lever O, mounted thereon, the series of levers connecting the key J and lever C, and the counterbalanciugspring k, as set forth.

3. In combination, the pin-barrel, its key J, the lever G, and the series of connectinglevers, the lever T of said series being provided with an elastic extension, V, for the purpose set forth.

PAUL HERMANN HARTLING.

\Vitnesses:

ALEX. ScHoLzE, B. Roi. 

